


None Too Thrilled

by moomoomeep



Series: Living Louder (Will I Stand or Will I Fall?) [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Adventure, Character Spoilers, Female Character of Color, Friendship, Other, Plot Spoilers, Suspense, established relationship(s) - Freeform, major spoilers for the main story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-28
Updated: 2014-05-10
Packaged: 2018-01-17 06:52:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1377943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moomoomeep/pseuds/moomoomeep
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Trouble surfaces while half the Avengers are away.  Will Steve be to lead the remaining team members against this threat, or will they fall to the hands of their foe?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my companion fic to the third trial (chapters 20-23) in “Skyfall!” The fic is told from Steve’s POV and shows what the Avengers, who didn’t go to the past, were up to. I hope you all enjoy! 
> 
> I don’t know anything about Sharon aside from her origin and relations to Steve and the Avengers.
> 
> Oh and as a side note, Steve and the others don’t know who she really is. She only gives them her first name. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers

Watching Tony walk through that portal alone is one of the hardest things Steve ever had to do.

Well, technically, Tony isn’t alone. He has three Avengers with him, but he doesn’t have Steve and that means something to him anyway. The thought of Tony being in another time worries the blond deeply. He knows his boyfriend can take care of himself, and he trusts his teammates, but Steve wants to be the one to protect him. It sounds childish, he knows, but he cares for Tony and wants to defend him with his own hands.

The blond feels a comforting hand on his shoulder. _Bucky._

Things have been improving between him and the other man ever since the Avengers released him from his brainwashing, despite a rocky start. Steve knows that things will never go back to how they were before the war. They have a stronger connection now, especially since their talk. Three months ago, his friend had come to him red-eyed and shaking before his morning run, asking if they could talk. When Steve agreed, he had no idea the horrors his friend was about to unleash on him about his memories of being Winter Soldier.

He bites the inside of his cheek. He knew he should have forced Bucky to stay behind. He shouldn’t have let his friend get on the train with him. Bucky would have followed him anyway, but he should have tried harder.

“Hey, man, you still with me?”

Steve snaps out of his thoughts and turns to Bucky, who’s wearing a curious look on his features. “Yeah, I’m here.”

“Awesome; Bruce suggested we should go to the cafeteria and mooch some food. Loki’s coming too. Are you in?”

“I don’t know if—” his stomach growling and Bucky’s laughter interrupt him.

“Dude, you should know better than to try to pull one over on me,” the brunet responds, his blue eyes dancing with amusement. “Come on. We need to go before Thor eats everything.” Bucky moves his hands from Steve’s shoulder to his arm and starts tugging the man towards the door.

Steve rolls his eyes, and continues letting Bucky pull him out the door and towards the Shield cafeteria.

**

“Don’t eat the mystery meat. It’ll give you the runs,” Bruce warns as Steve and Bucky join him at the cafeteria’s buffet.

“Personal experience?” Bucky questions.

“And some,” Bruce says with a snort and a shake of his head.

Steve grins and grabs a plate before pilling it with a variety of foods: peas, mashed potatoes, chicken (the biggest piece he could find), Buffalo wings, the list goes on. Bucky has twice the amount Steve does with a slice of pie to boot. He's not judging; a man has to eat.

Bruce leads the way to the table where Thor and Loki are already seated next to each other. Thor is tearing into a turkey leg the size of his head, while Loki is giving his brother a look of disgust.

“Ugh, can you be any more repulsive?” Loki asks.

Thor gives his brother a knowing look, implying that he can. The god swallows his food and wipes his dirty hand Loki’s shirt sleeve.

Loki shudders in disgust and glares at his brother, who is smiling without regret.

Thor turns to grin at his friends, who are just arriving. “My friends, we feast!”

Bucky laughs as he plops down across from Thor. “You know it, buddy! All we need is some booze and this will really be a feast!”

“Agreed!” Thor says, enthusiastically.

“I’m pretty sure none of us can get drunk,” Steve says as he sits next to Bucky.

“It’s the concept of the matter. I haven’t had a beer since forty-two, okay, I deserve a drink or five,” Bucky says. “Besides, Bruce might be able to get drunk.”

“I honestly have no idea,” Bruce says with a laugh from his spot at the head of the table. “I’ve never tried it before.”

“One day, if you’re up for it, we totally should,” Bucky says.

“I’m up for anything, but if the Other Guy wants to play too, well, that’s on you,” Bruce says.

The five men continue talking throughout their meal, shifting between topics and making fun of each other with relative ease. Steve finds himself zoning in and out of the conversation, his mind wandering to Tony. He’s hoping that everything is going alright with the trial and that Tony won’t put himself in unnecessary danger. The blond knows that Rhodey, Clint, and Nat won’t let anything happen to his boyfriend, but he can’t help but worry.

“Hey, Stevie, you with me?”

“Yeah, sure Buck,” Steve answers, distracted.

Bucky looks like he is about to continue questioning his friend, when the Shield alarms begin blaring.

“What the hell?” Bruce asks. “Are we being attacked again?”

“My friends, we must prepare for battle,” Thor says, with his hammer secured in his hand.

“We need to speak with the Director first to figure out whom we’re up against,” Steve says, slipping into Cap mode.

“I’m on it,” Loki says before teleporting the five men to the meeting room.

Fury has his back to the group. When he turns around, the Director does a double take before sighing. “Motherfuckers and their fucking magic,” he mutters.

“Director, what’s happening?” Steve asks, moving to stand next to the other man.

“There are reports of suspicious activity in Holdrege, Nebraska,” Fury answers.

“You mean the place where that Hydra base is?” Bucky questions.

“Precisely,” Fury says. “I’m dispatching the four of you and Coulson to the town to eliminate this threat.”

“I’m going too,” Loki declares.

“Absolutely not,” Fury says, firmly.

“Director, you only have half of your precious Avengers. I will be a valuable asset,” Loki argues.

“Loki, I will not permit you to leave headquarters unsupervised,” Fury says firmly.

“I will prevent him doing any harm,” Thor announces, placing a firm hand on his brother’s shoulder, which the lithe man glares at with a frown.

“Because that’s worked out so well before,” Fury mutters.

“Sir, if I may. We could bring Agent Thirteen to serve as Loki’s guard,” Coulson says. At Fury’s skeptical look, he adds, “I trained her myself, and she is not a pushover. She’ll do fine.”

“Alright” Fury reluctantly agrees. “I trust your judgment, Agent Coulson.”

“Thank you sir,” Coulson says with a nod. He turns to the Avengers and says, “Let’s move. I’ll get Agent Thirteen on the phone and have her meet us at the Quinjet hangar.”

“Agent Thirteen, sir?” Bruce questions with a furrowed brow.

“Don’t worry; she’s one of the best,” Coulson answers as he pulls out his phone. “Hey, it’s me. I have an assignment for you. Meet me in the Quinjet hangar.” The Agent hangs up before turning to the Avengers. “Come on.”

Coulson leads the way out of the meeting room with the Avengers trailing behind. They navigate through the maze that is Shield Headquarters, eventually reaching the Quinjet hangar without incident.

Thor opens the double doors, and Coulson continues leading the way through. In the hangar, there is a blond-haired woman standing next to one of the few remaining Quinjet’s. Her back is to them, but from what Steve can see, her uniform is nearly identical to Natasha’s, aside from the fact that Agent Thirteen’s is white.

“Agent Thirteen,” Coulson says in greeting.

The woman turns at her name, and nods in greeting before looking over each of the Avengers with a curious and suspicious eye. Under her gaze, Steve feels like he’s in the army all over again.

“These are the Avengers—or half of them anyway,” Coulson says. “Avengers, this is—”

“Agent Thirteen,” she says, interrupting Coulson. “Which one of you is Loki?”

“That would be me,” Loki says with a sneer.

“Listen, Loki, I’m not here to play games with you, and I will not be your friend. I’m here to do an assignment and if you get in my way, I will make your life a living hell, understood?” Agent Thirteen says.

“Understood,” Loki says, amused.

Sharon frowns before turning to Coulson. “I’ve secured this jet for us, and everything is prepped and ready.”

“Excellent,” Coulson says. “Let’s move.”

**

The Avengers, Loki, and the two Agents arrive in Holdrege five hours later, only to be immediately engaged by the Hydra Forces battling with Shield.

“The area is too hot; I can’t land,” Coulson says.

“We don’t need to land,” Agent Thirteen says, as she grabs a parachute and pulls it on.

“Avengers, let’s move!” Steve calls, jumping out of the jet.

Thor and Bucky are the next to follow. The god flies from the back of the jet, and hovers over the battlefield before dropping Bucky into the mix of soldiers and agents.

Bruce is next, following the other Avengers and transforming into the Hulk on the way down. Tony had designed new pants for Bruce that will transform with him, so Bruce won’t have to be embarrassed about being naked anymore.

Agent Thirteen parachutes from the jet, while Loki teleports to the ground. She pulls the parachute off her back when she lands, and immediately runs for cover.

“Loki, we’re going to hang back and provide support,” Agent Thirteen shouts over the noises of combat.

“I will be on the front lines, _Agent Thirteen_ ,” Loki sneers.

“If you don’t do as I say, I will give you something to fear,” Agent Thirteen threatens.

Watching Agent Thirteen interact with Loki, reminds Steve of when Natasha told him about her encounter with Loki while he was held prisoner before the battle of New York. Like, Natasha, the Agent commands respect and won’t take anything less.

Steve throws his shield, knocking down the soldiers in front of him, and charges into the sea of people, carefully avoiding hitting one of his allies. He hears Thor blasting away soldiers with his hammer, Hulk literally tossing people away from himself and the Shield Agents. Bucky is running all over the battlefield, taking down his enemies with a grace that only he could manage. Coulson is providing support from the air, circling on the perimeter and taking out the Hydra Soldiers that try to escape. Loki and Agent Thirteen are providing cover fire from the back. Steve wonders if the reason she offered to cover is because she either doesn’t want Loki to slip away while the battle is going on, or she doesn’t trust him.

Probably both.

The Avengers and the Shield Agents battle in this fashion for some time, taking down as many Hydra Soldiers and covering each other as much as possible. As of right now, Shield has the advantage and are slowly diminishing Hydra’s numbers. Just as Steve thinks they might be able to defeat the soldiers in one go, a chant of “retreat” is heard through the mouths of the enemies.

Thor moves to pursue, but Coulson’s words stop him.

“I’m going to follow them, and find out where their base is. In the meantime, Agent Thirteen will lead you to our temporary headquarters,” Coulson says.

“Alright, be careful, Coulson,” Cap says.

“I will,” is the response.

“The Temp HQ isn’t far from here,” Agent Thirteen announces. “Follow me.”

Sharon leads the Avengers and the remaining Shield Agents to a warehouse a few miles outside of town. She quickly ushers everyone inside before peering around the area with a careful eye as if checking to make sure any Hydra Soldiers that may have survived the battle didn’t follow them.

Steve leads the team further into the base and gazes around. While the outside of the warehouse looks like it’s been abandoned for thirty years, the inside is completely refurbished with machines, computers, and other forms of technology scattered around the large area. Shield Agents scramble around the area, taking their places in front of the instruments and immediately setting to work.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Agent Thirteen walk towards them. She’s wearing a tired smile on her face that contrasts the sharpness in her eyes. “If you take the stairs over there, it will lead you to the underground barracks. You should clean up and get some rest while you can. Oh, Dr. Banner, there’s also a lab on that level if you want to check it out. I’m sure our technicians would love to have your opinion on their work.”

Bruce smiles. “Thank you, Agent Thirteen.”

“Please, we’re off duty. Call me Sharon—that goes for all of you.”

Bruce nods his confirmation. “Thank you, Sharon. While I’m down there, I’ll see if we can find out any information on the Hydra Base.”

“Good thinking. I’ll see if I can get in contact with Coulson and find out if he knows the base’s general location,” Sharon responds before pulling out her phone. “Loki, you’re coming too.”

Loki lets out a frustrated huff, but ultimately follows Sharon out of the general area with Thor trailing loyally behind them.

**

Later, Steve finds himself lying on top of one of the cots in the barracks portion of the underground level. He just finished cleaning up in one of the many bathrooms, finding that the minor cuts and bruises he received during the battle have already healed. He sighs to himself, finding his thoughts drifting back to Tony and the trial. The blond really does hope everything is going okay, and that his boyfriend and friends aren’t putting themselves in unnecessary danger.

Familiar footsteps shake Steve out of his thoughts before he feels Bucky’s cold metal hand nudging at his side.

“Scoot over,” Bucky says.

“We’re not going to fit,” he says with a snort, but it doesn’t stop him from complying.

It takes a few moments, but eventually they get themselves to fit, with the blond still lying on his back and Bucky’s cheek pressed against Steve’s stomach. They used to lie like this all the time before the war and their positions were always reversed. Steve used to find great comfort, especially when he was sick, laying with his head on his best friend’s stomach to remind himself that this person who cares for him deeply is alive and well underneath of him. He has many memories of falling asleep with Bucky’s hand carding through his thin blond hair and humming songs from the radio.

Without even thinking, Steve begins combing his fingers thought Bucky’s hair working out the tangles, and humming one of Frank Sinatra’s songs. His friend lets out a contented sigh and fully relaxes against him, molding his body into Steve’s side.

“I used to do this to you, when you were a little guy,” Bucky mutters into the fabric of Steve’s uniform.

Steve snorts before resuming his humming.

“We used to do a lot of things together before the war . . .”

The blond furrows his brow. Bucky doesn’t like to talk about the times before the war, and he’s curious as to why he’s bringing it up now.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For falling, and failing you. For becoming this . . . monster.”

Steve pauses in his motions completely, which causes Bucky’s head to shift so he’s looking into the blond’s eyes. He can’t identify the look on Bucky’s face, but he doesn’t like the thoughts of what his friend could be hiding from behind that expression.

“It’s like I told you: It’s not your fault.”

“It was still me.”

“No, it wasn’t.”

“Steve—”

“Don’t argue with me, Bucky. I don’t blame you.”

“I tried to kill you.”

“It wasn’t you.”

“You would have let me,” Bucky says, suddenly sitting up and looking over Steve with panic crossing his features. “You have let me kill you. Why?”

“I knew you wouldn’t hurt me. Besides, you’re my best friend,” Steve says, simply. He would go to the ends of the earth for his friend, and he knows the Avengers would do the same. “I got your back.”

Bucky’s features soften at the phrase. It was something the brunet used to say to him all the time before and during the war. The words were always a comfort to Steve, something to fall back on whenever he was getting beat up in an alley or having to face down an army of German Soldiers. Bucky was always there, watching Steve’s six and making sure no harm came to him.

The other man seems satisfied with Steve’s words for he stays silent and lies back down, once again resting his head on the blond’s stomach. Steve resumes running is hand through Bucky’s hair, humming _“You’re My Best Friend”_ by Queen, which is one of the songs on the playlist Tony gave him to introduce him to modern music classics.

**

A few hours later, Steve gets a text from Sharon, asking if he would like to join her for lunch in the mess hall. He shoots back a text with his agreement and says he’ll meet her in ten minutes. Steve slides his phone back into his uniform pocket and looks down at his friend. Bucky had fallen asleep on him, with his metal hand curled loosely around his belt.

The blond frowns, trying to figure out how he’s going to move without waking his friend. Before the war, Bucky used to be such a heavy sleeper and nowadays, the slightest of movements can wake him. It also doesn’t help that his friend rarely sleeps as it is, remembering Bucky telling him that he probably gets eight hours of sleep over the course of an entire month.

It takes Steve five minutes, but he finally works himself out from under Bucky without waking the other man. At one point, Bucky had shifted and Steve thought he was going to wake up, but the other man had mumbled something in Russian before rolling completely off Steve and stretching out over the entire bed. The blond frowns. That asshole was waiting for him to go so he could have the cot all to himself.

He shakes his head before heading upstairs and towards the mess hall, waving to Sharon who is sitting a table on the other side of the cafeteria. Steve grabs a plate and piles food onto it, suddenly finding himself hungry. He also grabs a basket of dinner rolls, and brings his food over to Sharon’s table. He sets the objects on the surface and sits down across from the woman, who grabs a roll and munches on it without taking her eyes off the newspaper in her hands.

The pair sits in silence, with Steve eating and wondering why Sharon called him up here if they weren’t going to speak, before they are joined by Bucky ten minutes into their meal.

Bucky yawns and rubs at his eyes as he plops down in the chair on Steve’s right. “Why didn’t you wake me?”

“You just look so damn adorable when you’re not talking, I just had to take advantage,” Steve responds, not mentioning his curiosity at how Bucky was able to find him. Then again, Bucky used to joke that he had “Stevie Senses” and always knew where he was.

Bucky snorts and shoves Steve before furrowing his brow. “Where’s Loki?”

“He wouldn’t stop whining so I put him to work for Dr. Banner. Thor is with him, as well,” Sharon responds without taking her eyes off the newspaper.

“Wow, you really have a handle on him.”

“Don’t even try, buckaroo, I’m not interested,” Sharon says, while continuing to flip through the newspaper in her hands.

“It’s funny, you should mention that—”

“Dude, come on,” Steve says sounding exasperated.

“Stevie, relax, I know when I’m not wanted,” Bucky says. “I was just going to point out the irony of Sharon calling me buckaroo since I go by Bucky.”

“Bucky?” Sharon questions. She lowers her newspaper and gives Bucky a curious look. “What the hell is a Bucky?”

“It’s short for Buchanan.”

“Like the president?”

“Yeah; you’re the first person to guess that and not be an asshole about it.”

Sharon snorts, amused. “Why would I be an asshole about the name Buchanan? It’s not like your name is Moon Unit.”

Bucky lets out a loud laugh. “We should all be grateful it’s not that.”

Steve watches the pair interact, while a wave of nostalgia washes over him. When Steve looks at Sharon, he can see flashes of Peggy—from her walk, her manner of speaking, and the way that she knows what she wants. Hell, watching her interact with Bucky (despite the fact that Peggy and his friend were never formally introduced), he can imagine that they’re conversations would have been something similar to what he’s seeing now.

A sad smile crosses Steve’s face. While he’s grateful for his life in the modern era and the people in it (especially Tony, who’s been nothing but wonderful), he finds himself missing his old life. He misses the Commandos. He misses his mother. He misses the way he and Bucky used to joke around without a care in the world. Nowadays, if Bucky allows himself to be too comfortable, he gets a panicked look in his eyes, like this is all a dream, and he’s going to wake up as Winter Soldier again. Of course, this isn’t something Bucky can help, but it still pains him that his friend is suffering so much, and Steve can’t do anything to help him.

Out of all the people from his past, he misses Peggy the most. She was one of the few people who believed in him. She was the one who was by his side, and rallied Howard when he wanted to go behind enemy lines to rescue Bucky. She was the one who encouraged him to continue fighting despite the fact that his best friend was gone. She was the last person he spoke with before he went under.

After he awoke, he thought he was alone. Fighting during the battle of New York reinforced his loneliness at being at war without his friends by his side. The Avengers were great—are great—but at the time, they weren’t The Commandos. He and Natasha came up with great strategies together, but she wasn’t Bucky. And Tony . . .

Steve will always love Peggy, just not in the same way he loves Tony. Peggy was his inspiration, his first crush, the person who stood by the skinny kid from Brooklyn, and the person, who both raised him up and kept him grounded at the same time. But, Tony. Tony is his world, his lover, his friend, and the person who keeps him going.

Even though Steve will always wonder what life could have been like if he and Peggy had a chance, he has never once regretted the events and actions that led him to the modern world—and to Tony.

“Steve, are you okay?” Bucky asks, concerned.

“I’m fine,” he answers before clearing his throat. “Have we devised a plan to deal with Hydra?”

“I’m still working on it, but unless you’re up for blowing down the front door, I have nothing,” Sharon says.

“What about sneaking in?”

“I’ve thought about it, and I was going to suggest it, but while you were wrapped in your head, Coulson called. He said Hydra is planning something big, and they’re going to launch it tomorrow morning,” Sharon informs. “This means if we want to stop them, we need to do it tonight.”

“We can do it,” Steve says with confidence.

Sharon raises a skeptical eyebrow. “You think we can not only plan, but also launch a lengthy night stealth operation in only a few hours?”

Steve shrugs. “The Commandos did it. I’m sure we can too.” He looks at Bucky from the corner of his eye, and notes the fond smile on the other man’s face.

“Alright,” Sharon says, sounding convinced. “I’ll inform Coulson, and see if I can hack into their security to access a map of the facility. I’ll meet you two back here in one hour.” Without another word, Sharon folds up her newspaper, stands from the table, pulls out her phone, and leaves the two men alone.

“You’ve become a nostalgic fool in your old age, Rogers,” Bucky says, while wearing a large grin.

“So have you, Barnes,” Steve says with a fond smile.

Bucky’s grin widens. He grabs a dinner roll out of the basket in the center of the table, and nibbles on it without taking his eyes off Steve.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Implications and mentions of past trauma

That night, the Avengers, Loki, Sharon, Coulson, and several Shield Agents are hovering behind cover several hundred feet away from the Hydra Base. The top of the base appears similar to the warehouse base Shield is using, but according to the map Sharon uncovered after hacking their systems, he knows it extends well underground into a series of maze like hallways. Both he and Sharon extensively studied the map, memorizing every detail while Coulson filled them in on security.

There are usually no more than twelve guards on each of the large floors with several cameras scattered around. The Agent, unfortunately, was only able to gather the position of the external cameras seeing as it was too risky for him to venture into a fully manned base alone. He joked the only person who would be able to do that was Steve, and the blond decided not to mention that he wouldn’t be alone for his best friend would follow him without question.

Steve knows they’re going to have to be extra careful because anything could (and probably will) go wrong, which is why Steve only has a small team going in with him. Bucky, Sharon, and Agent Amira Baines are going into the base alongside him. He debated on whether or not he should ask Loki, but he knows Thor would undoubtedly want to go inside with his brother, and Steve can’t risk too many people going inside. Instead, both brothers are going to remain outside with Coulson, Bruce, and Shield.

“Are we all clear on the plan?” Coulson asks.

The plan is simple on paper. Steve, Bucky, Sharon, and Amira sneak into the base, splitting up on each level to take out the guards and plant explosives before meeting at the stairs and moving to the next level, repeating in this fashion until the entire place is covered in bombs. On the outside, Coulson and Bruce would be hacking into the systems and taking out the cameras and any other form of weaponry they could find in addition to naming the best locations for the explosives. If all goes well, at the end of the mission, Loki will teleport the foursome out of the base, and Coulson will detonate the entire thing.

In the event everything goes wrong, Thor, Loki, and Hulk will storm the base while Coulson waits for backup (who are already on standby) to arrive before joining the assault. Steve really hopes it doesn’t come to that, but it never hurts to have a backup plan.

“Crystal,” Sharon responds as she rechecks her ammo.

“I understand,” Amira says. He doesn’t know much about Amira other than the brief introduction they had before they arrived at the base. All he knows is that her parents immigrated to America from Pakistan, and that she’s been employed with Shield for the last eight years. She’s wearing an all-black stealth suit similar to Natasha’s uniform. Amira’s dark hair is pulled into a braid, with a beanie pulled on overtop. Her dark eyes are focused and she looks like a cat ready to pounce on her prey. She’s wearing a black backpack, which contains the explosives that the small group are going to be planning.

Steve looks over at Bucky, who’s crouched next to him and wearing a similar backpack to Amira. His friend nods his confirmation and understanding on the plan. Steve takes a breath, steeling himself for the mission they’re about to complete. This is the first stealth operation he’s led since the forties (and even then, the Commandos mostly just blew down the front door) so he’s feeling nervous.

He feels a hand on his shoulder, and turns to Bucky who offers him a small smile. Steve takes another breath. They can pull this off; he knows they can. He turns to his right, seeing Sharon and Amira both looking at him, waiting for the order.

Steve nods. “Let’s move.”

**

Getting into the base was easy enough. There were barely any guards on duty (which is odd for a base this large) and Coulson and Bruce blocked out the cameras for the foursome to get inside without any trouble. The interior of the base is eerily silent, the only sounds being the footsteps of the guards in the distance and his teammates breathing. Steve and Sharon exchange a glance before nodding and heading in separate directions. Sharon goes to the right taking Amira with her, while Steve heads left with Bucky following behind him.

“Alright Cap,” Bruce says over the comms. “The cameras on this floor are playing on a loop, so no one will know you’re here. One of the first locations for the bombs should be in a room on your immediate left.”

Reaching a corner, Steve peers around it seeing a long well lit hallway with a guard sleeping in a chair a few feet away next to a door on the left and two more guards in the distance quietly talking with one another. “There are three soldiers; one in front of the room and two in the distance. We won’t be able to move without one of them seeing.”

“Think you can boost me into that vent?” Bucky asks.

He looks over at his friend and follows his gaze seeing an air duct close to the ceiling. “I don’t know if your big ass can fit, but we can try,” he says grinning when Bucky punches him in the shoulder.

Steve moves first, hovering underneath the vent and cupping his hands. Bucky places his left foot in his cupped hands and he boosts his friend into the air, the other man bracing his hand on the wall and quietly wrenching open the vent with his metal one. After a few tense seconds, the vent opens and Bucky crawls inside with Steve’s help. The blond watches his friend disappear before going back to the corner and kneeling in the shadows, waiting for Bucky’s next move.

He hears movement in the room with the guard sleeping in front of the door and it sounds like Bucky fell out of the air duct and onto the floor, barely managing to catch himself. The guards heard the noise too, for the two that were standing in the distance are waking up his friend and entering the room together. He listens to the sound of fists smashing into something while worrying his bottom lip between his teeth before Bucky’s head pokes out of the doorway and he nods to Steve, inviting him into the room.

Steve quickly moves from the corner and into the room, shutting the door behind him. He finds the three guards on the floor unconscious with Bucky standing in the middle of the room with a grin on his face. “Bruce we’re in position.”

“Alright, there are three locations in this room you’re in. One by the bookshelf that should be on your right, one underneath the window, which should be above your heads, and one in the lower right hand corner on the wall to your left.”

Steve looks around the room finding the places in question. Bucky slides the backpack off his shoulder and sets it on the ground, unzipping the bag and carefully pulling three of the explosives out of the object and handing one to Steve. The bombs are small, barely the size of Steve’s fists, but are designed to be powerful enough to take out a city block. He takes the explosive from his friend and walks over to the bookshelf, placing the device on the wall Bruce indicated while Bucky does the same with his two.

They quickly finish. Bucky goes over to the bag, zipping it up and placing it on his back, while Steve, quietly opens the door and peers around finding no more guards in the immediate area. He slides of the room and quickly moves to the next shadowed area, Bucky following close behind after shutting the door behind him with a small click.

_“Shit!”_

“Something wrong? We’re you spotted?” Coulson’s worried voice comes over the comms.

“No, I stepped in gum,” Sharon says, while Amira’s muffled laughter is heard in the background. “That is disgusting.”

“Hey, maybe there’s a gift shop here where you can purchases some more footwear.” Steve deadpans while Bucky manages to hold back a snort.

“Fuck off, Rogers.”

Steve and Bucky meet up with Sharon and Amira a few minutes later after taking out the rest of the guards and planting bombs their end. He offers the blond woman a smile, but she glares at him, causing him to smile wider. They descend the first flight of stairs, and move throughout the base in a similar fashion, splitting up when they first arrive on a floor, taking out the guards, and planting explosives according to Bruce’s instructions.

Eventually, the group arrives on the lowest floor. Sharon and Amira immediately move to the right, leaving Steve and Bucky to go left. The Captain leads the way, crouched low and pressed against the wall with Bucky following behind him in a similar fashion. Thankfully, the comms are completely silent. Usually the Avengers are chattering away during missions like this and while Steve doesn’t mind listening to his teammates, he prefers silence so he can focus easier on the task at hand. Not only that, but being here with Bucky reminds him of the war and Steve wants to hold on to that nostalgic feeling for as long as he can.

Steve carefully peers around the corner looking for guards. Finding none, he slips around and ducks into the room on his immediate left with Bucky following behind him. Bruce listed this room as one of the last that needed bombs placed. His friend pulls the backpack off and tosses it to Steve after shutting the door behind them and checking to make sure there were no guards around.

The blond catches the bag and wanders to the other side of the room, which appears to be a makeshift laboratory. He can’t tell if it’s recently built or abandoned, but he knows it was probably going to be used to some type of human experimentation just like what Zola and Skull were doing in the forties.

Steve’s grip tightens on the bag and he frowns. He tends not to think about his past, specifically the war, for all it does is evoke feelings of anger and guilt (mostly about Bucky) that not even repeatedly punching a bag will help quell. He takes a deep breath, pulls one of the explosives out of the bag, and sets them up in the room. He smiles as he arms the bomb and secures it in place. He sighs before rising to his feet and shaking his head.

“Before we go back to the Helicarrier, we should get victory Shawarama. Clint would be so pissed, it would be hilarious,” Steve jokes. He furrows his brow when Bucky remains silent.

He turns and sees his friend standing in completely still, face pale and muscles tense. Steve is immediately on alert, glancing quickly around wondering if he missed something. “Bucky? Bucky, are you okay?” Steve asks as he slowly approaches his friend, abandoning the backpack on the other side of the room.

“Steve, I—” he begins before cutting himself off, not tearing his eyes away from something in the distance.

The blond follows his friend’s gaze, seeing a large pod looking device in the center off the room attached to various monitors and equipment with wires strung everywhere. Steve looks between his friend and the machinery a few times before everything clicks into place. The Russian’s must have hooked Bucky up to machines like these when they were turning him into Winter Soldier. He feels anger surging through him, even more so, when he sees Bucky’s rapidly paling face. He needs to get the other man out of this room now.

“Bucky, I’m going to get you out of here, and I’m going to need to take your arm. Is that okay?” Steve asks cautiously.

When he gets a nod from Bucky, he places one hand on his flesh arm and the other on the middle of his back before carefully leading him towards the exit. He remembers seeing a room across the hall and knows that will be better than being in this lab. Once he gets Bucky settled, he can return and finish the mission.

“Someone’s coming,” Bucky says suddenly.

_“Shit.”_

Wasting no time and hating himself for what he has to do, Steve pulls Bucky further into the lab and into a shadowed corner. Bucky immediately places himself against the wall and Steve settles in front of him, watching as a fully armed Hydra Agent enters into the room and glances around the area. Out of the corner of his eye, Steve notices the black backpack containing explosives sitting out in broad view. He swears under his breath, knowing that if that bag is discovered, the entire operation could be compromised.

Bucky curls closer to him, pressing his face into Steve’s shoulder in the hopes to conceal his labored breathing. His friend is still shaking, with his arms tightening around his torso. The Captain’s mind whirls. Bucky is in no condition to fight if they’re discovered, and Steve knows he won’t be able to take out the soldier without being seen. _They’re fucked._

Steve raises a hand to the comm in his ear, ready to give Coulson the code phrase so Loki can get at least Bucky out, when he sees the rouge soldier being taken down by a small dark figure. The person drags the soldier’s body to the other end of the room before walking over the backpack and pulling out the last two explosives, moving efficiently and quickly around the area. When finished the figure walks over and kneels down in front of the pair. In all his life, Steve has never been so happy to see a Government Agent.

Amira looks between Steve and Bucky with a curious expression, with her head titled to the side. “The entire floor is secured and all the bombs are in position,” she says. She doesn’t ask what’s going on with Bucky, which is something Steve is grateful for. Amira stands and offers her hand, which Steve takes and pulls himself and Bucky into a standing position.

Steve doesn’t see Sharon enter the room and almost barrels over the Agent in his efforts to get Bucky of the lab. Thankfully, the blond woman effortlessly sidesteps out of the way while Steve pulls his friend into the room across the hallway.

Bucky immediately pulls away from Steve and walks to the other side of the room, bracing his hands on the desk on the far side of the room. Sharon and Amira follow behind Steve, with the former shutting the door behind them.

The girls both fix Steve with concerned and demanding expressions, but he ignores them in favor of looking at his friend, noting his rigid posture and shaking shoulders. Steve walks over to Bucky and places a hesitant hand on his shoulder, feeling his friend’s muscles tense before immediately relaxing. He releases the desk and turns his body towards Steve, expression haunted and eyes seeing but not seeing. Never in his life has Steve wanted to exact revenge on someone than he does on Bucky’s captors.

“Sorry.”

Steve shrugs. “You have nothing to be sorry about.”

Bucky meets Steve’s eyes. He looks slightly angry and Steve doesn’t know if it’s from the memories or from the blond not placing any blame on him. Before he can open his mouth to argue, Coulson’s voice comes over the comms.

“Are you there? Hello?”

“We’re here, Coulson,” Steve says, not taking his eyes off Bucky.

“Then, why aren’t any of you answering?”

“We had a bit of a situation, nothing we couldn’t handle.”

Steve can hear Coulson’s frown on the other end of the line. “Did you complete the mission?”

“We did,” Sharon says jumping into the conversation. “The bombs are secured.”

“Excellent; Loki’s going to teleport you out in five seconds.”

One second, Steve is looking at Bucky with the random office in the background, and in the next, he’s looking at his friend with miles of desert behind them. Steve is aware of the presence of Sharon and the others from somewhere on his six.

“Ready?” Coulson asks.

“Ready,” Steve responds without taking his eyes off Bucky in fear the man will bolt.

Steve hears the explosion of the base rather than see it, watching the light and the flicker of the flames illuminating Bucky’s features. It takes forty-five minutes for the dust to settle and Steve only takes his eyes away from his friend to nod a thank you to Sharon and Amira for helping out. The women give him tight smiles and nod in return.

“Well, that takes care of that,” Bruce says, closing the laptop resting against his thighs. He rises from the lawn chair Coulson had brought out for him, setting the laptop on the seat, and stretching.

“Good work, team, mission accomplished,” Coulson says, standing from his crouched position. “Let’s head back to base and back up. We have to report to Fury in the morning.”

**

Steve finds himself sitting in a secluded area of the Quinjet three hours after the detonation of the base. It didn't take long for the Avengers and their Shield allies to pack up the warehouse and load the Quinjet before boarding the aircraft, with Coulson and Sharon flying. 

Bucky shifts next to Steve, who almost forgot he was sitting next to him. His friend had joined him five minutes into the flight, but they haven’t said anything to each other than a grunt in greeting. He's been quiet (and not Bucky’s version of quiet either, actually quiet) ever since he was triggered in laboratory.

The Captain looks to his left only to find his friend looking at him with a furrowed brow and concerned expression. Steve tilts his head, inquiring Bucky to speak.

After a few moments, he does. “Did that seem too easy to you?”

Steve’s thoughts drift to back to the mission. For an organization that was supposedly planning something big, their base was eerily empty. To answer Bucky’s question, he nods. “Way too easy.”

Bucky doesn't acknowledge his answer, remaining silent and looking away from Steve.

The blond glances at his friend, concerned, not used to seeing Bucky so quiet. Maybe having his past weighing in the back of his mind constantly, in addition to what happened in the lab, is starting to get to him.

“Are you okay?” Steve asks, the words flying out of his mouth before he can stop them.

Bucky sighs before hesitantly looking at Steve. He opens his mouth to say something before closing it again. His eyes scan Steve’s face as if he’s trying to find a way to lie to the blond’s face without letting him know. Bucky bites his bottom lip. “No, I’m not fine.”

Steve’s expression immediately goes to one of concern, but he remains silent, hoping his friend will continue.

“Back there when we were in the lab, seeing that equipment, that device.” Bucky pauses. “They would strap me into a device similar to that and experiment on me continuously, poking and prodding me with needles and injecting me with God knows what. They used the same machine when they would wipe my mind. There was pain, so much fucking pain. I didn't know how much more I could take-- I remember screaming, with a mantra of _"kill me already, just fucking do it_  running through my head and I couldn't stop it. I just wanted the pain to stop; just stop.”

Steve doesn’t realize how hard he’s clutching the metal arm rest out of anger until it breaks under his strength surprising both himself and Bucky, who starts to laugh. Steve alternates his gaze between the arm rest in his hand and his friend before joining in. Seeing each other laugh causes them to laugh harder and harder, until they’re both bent at the waist laughing like their lives depended on it. Their teammates probably think they’ve finally gone senile, but Steve doesn’t care. He hasn’t heard Bucky laugh this loud in a long time and it sounds like music to him.

Eventually their laughter dies down, leaving Bucky grinning with tears welling in the corners of his eyes and looking so damn happy. Steve smile brightens and he lightly cuffs Bucky on the side of the head, earning a small laugh from his friend.

“Are you two alright back there?” Bruce calls, sounding both concerned and amused.

Steve looks at Bucky, seeing his friend grin wider and can’t help but mirror the gesture despite how much his face is starting to hurt. “Yeah,” he calls. “We’ll be alright.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: mentions of death

The Quinjet arrives at the Shield Helicarrier about an hour later. Coulson and Sharon carefully land and park the jet in the surprisingly busy hangar. Usually there aren’t this many people around, but then again, it is a little after sunrise and they must be returning from overnight missions.

It doesn’t take long for everyone to pile off the Quinjet and Steve finds himself standing in a circle near the still open loading ramp. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Bruce, who is standing next to Coulson, giving him and Bucky concerned glances, probably in response to their laughing fit. When Bruce looks away, Bucky indiscreetly nudges him in the ribs and it’s taking everything they have not to grin and burst into a giggle fit like when they were kids and discovered their first porn magazine.

Coulson clears his throat, bringing Steve’s attention back to the task. The mission might be over, but they’re needed for a debriefing and Steve has to remain completely professional. This, he will admit, is hard to do with Bucky around.

“Thank you so much,” the Agent says to both Sharon and Amira. “We couldn’t have done this without you.”

“It was our pleasure,” Amira says with a small smile.

“Happy to help,” Sharon responds.

“Are you two going to be around for a while?” Steve asks. “I mean, after the debrief we’re probably going to get some food or something, and you’re welcomed to join us.”

Sharon shakes her head. “We would love to, but um, we have already been assigned another mission. Amira got our orders while we were in flight.”

“That’s okay, some other time?” Steve offers.

Sharon looks to Amira. Both women smile before nodding.

“We’ll definitely take you up on that, Captain,” Amira says. “Until then.”

Steve nods curtly. “Until then.”

The Avengers, Coulson, and Loki say their final goodbyes to the two women before they leave the hangar.

Coulson pulls out his cell phone and checks it. “Fury’s waiting for us. Let’s go ahead and get this over with.”

“It’s a shame they couldn’t stick around, I actually sort of liked this Agent Thirteen,” Loki comments as they head towards the meeting room.

Thor clasps his brother on the back of the neck as a wide grin crawls onto his face. “It is good to see you making friends, brother.”

Loki scowls and rolls his eyes. “Don’t ruin this for me, you oaf.”

Thor laughs deep in his chest, grin not leaving his face.

**

“We’re here,” Coulson announces after several minutes of walking through the Helicarrier’s various corridors. He opens the double doors and leads the way into the meeting room.

Fury is already standing in front of the round, circular table in the center of the room, eye cast downwards at the tablet in front of him. He glances up when he hears the door open and gestures to the table. “Have a seat,” he says.

The Avengers move further into the room and take their places around the conference table. Coulson seats himself first, sitting in the chair on Fury’s right. Bruce sits next to Coulson, followed by Thor, Loki, Bucky, and finally Steve. Only half of the seats are occupied, almost serving as a cruel reminder that Avengers are not completely together. Steve’s mind drifts to his missing teammates, hoping that everything is going smoothly.

As if sensing his worry, Bucky nudges Steve in the side and offers him a small smile that says, “everything will be alright, Stevie, just you wait and see.” The blond returns the smile with one of his own. He reaches over and ruffles Bucky’s long hair, which earns him a noise of disapproval.

The door to the conference room opens and Agent Hill walks in carrying a stack of files. She pauses on her way to her seat to hand Bruce a paperback novel, which the doctor accepts with a smile. She speaks with him quietly for a few moments, presumably about the novel, before nodding and walking away to her seat. Hill sets down the files on the table and settles in the empty chair on Director Fury’s left.

Fury clears his throat. “Now that everyone’s here, we can get started.”

Bucky twitches in his seat and Steve can’t help but grin. The debrief hasn’t even started and his friend is already restless. Bucky has never been able to sit still; he always has to be in motion, even in his sleep. Steve remembers Bucky physically kicking him out of bed, on one of the rare nights when the blond was actually well, and only awoke when Steve attacked his tickle spots. His friend had apologized profusely, but Steve saw the amusement dancing in his eyes.

“To start off, I have seen Coulson’s, Agent Thirteen’s, and Agent Baines’s reports on Holdrege and I must say that I am impressed with the results,” Fury says. “The operation was a complete success.”

“It was mostly successful due to the hard work of Shield and The Avengers, with special thanks to Cap for planning the actual covert operation,” Coulson interjects.

“Excellent,” Fury says with a nod. “Now, I want to discuss—”

The Director never got the chance to finish his sentence for a loud explosion cuts him off. The Helicarrier rocks dangerously to the side, causing everyone to go off balance. When the Helicarrier rights itself, everyone immediately rises to their feet and arms themselves with their weapon of choice.

“Sir, I’m getting word that we’re being attacked by Hydra,” Hill yells over the noise.

“What? Can’t these motherfuckers get an original idea?” Fury exclaims.

“It must be out of retaliation,” Bucky says. When everyone turns to him, he shrugs. “We did destroy their _surprisingly empty_ operational base. Sharon did mention they were planning something big, so they must have kept most of their soldiers off site. Plus, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that Shield was the one behind the attack.”

“He’s right,” Steve agrees.

“I’m always right,” Bucky says smugly.

“What do we do, Cap?” Bruce asks.

“Eliminate the threat,” Steve says, glancing over at Bucky, who is checking his weapons.

“I thought that wasn’t _Captain America’s_ style,” Loki says with a slight sneer in his tone.

“Yeah, well, things change,” Steve says, keeping his gaze on Bucky.

“Look, I don’t care how you do it, but I want Hydra off my Helicarrier,” Fury says as he pulls out his pistol. “Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir,” Steve says.

After he finishes speaking, the first wave of soldiers appears in the conference room. Thor immediately tosses his hammer into the crowd and blasts the enemies through the side of the Helicarrier. Hill and Coulson quickly take out those that weren’t eliminated in the initial offence.

Fury’s eye narrows at the gaping hole in the side of the conference room. Bucky lets out a low whistle and Steve winces. Loki sighs and mutters under his breath.

Thor calls Mjolnir back to him and gives the Director an apologetic look. “I offer you my most sincere apology. It was not my intention to damage your aircraft.”

The Director remains silent for another moment before sighing. “Just watch your strength.”

Thor nods his confirmation. “I understand and shall do my best to comply.”

Any further conversation is hindered when the larger second wave of soldiers arrive. Bruce transforms into the Hulk and charges, taking down a massive chunk of the enemies with one swing of his arm. Loki creates spells and illusions in order to trick the enemies into attacking their own. Thor isn’t far from Loki’s position, using Mjolnir to keep the soldiers way from his brother. Fury, Hill, and Coulson have taken to cover and are providing assistance with their firearms.

Steve charges into the mass of soldiers, knocking the enemies away with his shield and taking full advantage of the hole in the side of the Helicarrier. Occasionally, out of the corner of his eye, the Captain will see a black and silver blur speed past him and keep the enemies off his six. Steve smiles to himself, thrilled that Bucky has his back again. If he tunes out the Hulk’s roaring and his teammates shouting over the comms, it’s almost as if they’re fighting together during the war. Captain America and Bucky Barnes destroying Hydra alongside the Howling Commandos one base at a time.

The blond is pulled from his musing when a bullet grazes his shoulder. Steve swears under his breath, pissed that he let himself get so distracted.

“Sniper on the balcony,” Hill informs while popping her head out from behind cover and firing two shots into the enemy approaching her. “There’s a vent located above his head and an adjuring one located on the furthest wall to the right.”

Steve quickly locates the vent, which is close to the ceiling. Cap turns to address his team and already sees Bucky heading towards him at full sprint. He tightens his grip on his shield and braces himself as Bucky jumps; placing both of his feet firmly on top the star in the center, Bucky crouches low, nearly curled in completely on himself. Steve musters his strength before launching his friend to the vent. He watches Bucky grab the hatch with his metal hand before crawling inside.

He waits with baited breath before the hatch over top the sniper is kicked open and Bucky is throwing himself from the vent, landing on top of the enemy sniper and forcing him to the ground. He gets a glimpse of Bucky’s metal arm rising into the air, knife catching the light before he thrusts the weapon down.

A body is tossed over the edge of the balcony and lands on the ground some feet away from Steve. Bucky pokes his head over the railing, catching Steve’s eye and nodding his head. Satisfied that is friend is now the one behind the sniper rifle, Cap turns away from the balcony and throws himself back into the battle.

*

“Steve, on your left!” Bucky shouts.

Cap turns to deal with the threat, but before he can react, he is tackled to the ground with the hands of the enemy soldier wrapped around his throat. Steve hears his shield clatter to the ground a few feet away as he struggles to fight off the soldier, unable to get a purchase on the man leaning over him. He works to try to get his feet underneath the enemy so he can kick him off, when the man is forced off him. The blond hears a single gunshot before Bucky’s face comes into view.

Bucky’s frowning and looking at Steve disapprovingly. “I told you to watch your left.”

“Don’t be an ass; help me up,” he responds while still trying to catch his breath.

Bucky rolls his eyes and holsters his gun. He reaches out his hand to help Steve up when bullets start whizzing past his head. “Shit,” he swears, raising his metal arm to deflect the bullets. He looks around for a moment before grabbing Steve’s shield and using the object to cover them both.

Steve’s friend is successful in his defense attempt until one of the foot soldier fires a ray gun that blasts Bucky out of Steve’s field of vision. Bucky drops the shield and flies out of the open hole in the Helicarrier that Mjolnir had made.

“Bucky!” Steve scrambles to his feet, slightly stumbling while he runs to where Bucky fell, hearing the faint sounds of Thor keeping the soldiers off him. He pokes his head around the open side of the Helicarrier, eyes widening in horror at what he sees.

Bucky is a few feet away and hanging on to a jutted out piece of metal for dear life. His eyes are fearful as he looks between Steve and the endless void below.

“Hang on!”

“Steve, what do you think you’re doing?”

“Just hang on!”

Steve grabs onto the side of the Helicarrier and slowly eases his way around. He carefully makes his way to Bucky’s position, not liking the way the metal groans under his weight. When Steve is close enough he reaches out his arm in an effort to grab onto Bucky and—

It’s 1944, they’re on a mission to capture Zola in the hopes he’ll lead them to the Skull’s position. They were ambushed in the back, Steve went down, Bucky protected him. He was blasted out of the train. Steve is screaming his name, he’s reaching out his arm, and the metal gives away. Bucky’s _slipping_ , **falling** , and Steve is crying, repeating his name as a mantra in his head. All you had to do was catch him, Rogers; you had one _fucking_ job. Catch him.

“Grab my hand!” Steve yells over the memories and forcing himself back into the present.

Bucky shifts his position slightly, left arm outstretched as far as it would go. “I can’t reach.”

The blond can feel the desperation and panic starting to crawl through him. He forces down his emotions and focuses on getting Bucky. They’ve been inching towards each other and Steve can almost reach him when the metal Bucky is clinging to finally gives away and he’s _slipping_ , **falling** , and Steve lunges, catching Bucky around the wrist with his right hand and clinging to the metal of the Helicarrier with the other. Steve uses his strength to twist his body and toss Bucky through the open hole, feeling relieved when he hears the sound of Bucky’s metal arm colliding with the floor.

Steve takes a breath before easing his way back into the Helicarrier, allowing himself a brief moment to relax when his feet touch the solid floor. He looks around for Bucky before seeing the other man stalking towards him, face twisted in anger, and shaking his head as if he’s disappointed. Cap is about to get the lecture of his life and he doesn’t care because the important thing is: Bucky’s alive.

“Are you out of your goddamned mind?” Bucky starts yelling once he’s only a few feet from Steve. “You could have gotten yourself ki—”

Steve cuts Bucky off when he wraps the other man in a hug. He’s acting unprofessional right now, seeing as there’s a battle still going on around them, but he nearly lost his best friend again in the exact same way as before. He thinks he’s entitled to a hug. The blond smiles when he feels Bucky’s arms wrap around his torso and his reluctant sigh.

“You’re an idiot,” Bucky says, pretending to be exasperated and only sounding nothing but grateful.

“Got it from you, Buck.”

Bucky pulls away and grins, hitting Steve on the arm. “Come on Cap. Let’s finish this.”

*

It doesn’t take much longer to defeat Hydra.

Hulk roars and finishes off the last of the soldiers by knocking them through the hole in the side of the Helicarrier. Everyone slowly uncurls themselves from their cover and looks around the conference room suspiciously, not entirely sure if the area is completely clear. After a few moments, Loki speaks up.

“I’ve done a complete scan of the aircraft with my magic. There is no trace of Hydra on board.”

Everyone relaxes at Loki’s words and holster their weapons. Hulk transforms back into Bruce and Thor welcomes the good Doctor back. Steve turns and looks at Bucky, who is standing next to him and wearing a neutral expression on his face. He can’t get over the fact that he nearly lost Bucky for a third time. The Captain wants nothing more than to keep Bucky by his side and not let the man leave his sight, but he knows that if he coddles Bucky too much, he’ll get mad and retaliate by yelling or punching Steve in the face. Or both.

Steve bumps his shoulder against Bucky’s watching the other man turn towards him, expression morphing into a grin. He watches Bucky’s eyes roam over Steve’s face and body as if checking for any injuries like he used to do when they were younger. The Captain only has a few cuts and bruises in addition to the wound in his shoulder where he was grazed by a bullet. All signs of those injuries will be gone within a few hours, at best.

Bucky bumps against Steve’s shoulder, grin faltering slightly. The Captain wonders what his friend could be thinking about, whether it’s the fall or the memories from their past, he has no idea. He’s about to ask Bucky when the sounds of footsteps cause him to turn and face the door as several Shield agents arrive in the destroyed conference room, dragging carts and bins behind them.

“Alright, cleanup is here. Avengers stand down,” Fury says and he barely finished speaking before Thor, Bruce, and Loki practically drop where they stand. Hill and Coulson remain by the Director’s side and the three begin whispering amongst themselves.

Steve tries to aid with the cleanup before Agents Sanders and Martinez, who are in charge of the cleanup effort, pull him into a conversation about the battle. The blond relays everything that happened in as much detail as possible while Agent Martinez takes notes. During the whole conversation, he’s aware of Bucky propped up against the wall behind him, remaining silent and Steve can bet that his friend is bored out of his mind.

“Thank you so much, Captain Rogers,” Agent Sanders says with a small smile. “As soon as the area is cleared, that hole is the first thing we’re fixing. We wouldn’t want someone to accidentally fall through that thing.”

Steve tenses as his mind replays what nearly happened again during the battle.

Bucky stifles a snort.

“That’s not funny, Bucky,” the blond hisses under his breath.

“You have to admit, it is kind of ironic,” Bucky responds.

Steve frowns and decides not to answer Bucky in favor of continuing his conversation with the Agents.

After a minute, he feels Bucky nudge his side. Before he can look at his friend, Bucky’s whisper of _“Your boy’s back,”_ reaches his ears and he can hear the smirk in the other man’s tone. The blond politely excuses himself from the conversation with the Agents and turns his head, spotting Tony on the other side of the room with Nat, Rhodey, and Clint surrounding him. A wide grin breaks across his face. The four look worse for the wear and like they’ve seen a ghost, but they’re all alive and back. Finally, the Avengers are back together.

“Tony!”

“Steve!”

Steve crosses the room, watching as the brunet sets a box to his side. When he reaches Tony, he wraps the other man in his arms, pressing his face into the brunet’s shoulder to hide his wide grin. His best friend is okay, and his teammates and the love of his life have returned to him. Steve would be damned to say if he was anything less than completely content.

“Why does he get the first hug?” Clint asks, and Steve can imagine Natasha rolling her eyes at the archer’s words.

“I missed you so much,” Steve whispers, turning his attention back to the man in his arms as though he never heard Clint speak.

He can feel Tony grinning against his shoulder. “I missed you too, you big lug.”

Steve snorts.

Tony pulls away from Steve and smiles at him, one the blond returns whole-heartedly. After a few moments, Tony furrows his brow, confused, and looks at the destruction surrounding them. “What happened here?”

Bucky snorts from somewhere on the other side of the room. “A whole lotta shit.”


End file.
